Coffee and Hot Chocolate... some advice, fellow vegans, please?

[ms.vegan]

Hi! have looked under "coffee", for my answer, and can't find it, so I'm starting again. My coffee used to curdle, but now it doesn't. I've changed brands, to something well expensive and really quite out of my range, and also changed brands of soya milk, but which causes the curdling? the type of milk, or the type of coffee? advice please?

Re hot chocolate...yummy, love it, but OMG there's so many! what's best for a vegan...what's suitable...what do you guys recommend? Obviously it's better for me to use something I can get from a supermarket, rather than having to rely on shopping online, or the health store, but the price ranges are so vast aren't they? Would be interested to hear about options at both ends of the price range, if possible?

Thanks so much, for everyone's help.

Jennie. xx

[cobweb]

For hot chocolate i use either Tesco Cocoa powder and soya milk, or when i'm not too poor, Green and Blacks organic hot chocolate granules which are easy to mix and nice and sweet without sugar added. Both of these you can usually get quite easily, the G&B hot choc i get in a local health type grocery shop. I use soya milk with that, too. It is a lot more expensive than plain cocoa powder but i think it's much nicer, and it keeps weel in it's sealed glass jar (that it comes in).

[cobweb]

re the coffee, coffee does make soya milk curdle, can't remember why.
I use the individual little single cup filter coffees you can buy in supermarkets as i like decent coffee but only have 1 or max. 2 cups a day. I put the soya milk in first with a little bit of boiling water mixed in. The add the filter coffee thing which drips down nice and slowly - usually you end up with good coffee that way .

[pusskins]

Yes, WHY does it curdle? Do I need a fnangly-dangly Gaggia-type machine like Starbucks et al to get a decent coffee with soya at home? Might have to clear the sideboard first...

[ms.vegan]

Hiya! So, Pusskins, you've got the same problem? Cobweb, I've tried the g and b's chocolate, yum.m.m.m.meeee! bit dear though, innit? Re the coffee, dare me mention the brand? I changed to nescafe gold blend, better than the original, and use morrison's own unsweetened soya milk, and it seems to be ok, but, is it coz it's an expensive coffee? Cheaper coffees have curdled, but so have different soya milks, longlife, and also the sweetened versions...any enlightenment? Jen. xx

[cobweb]

the best soya milk i found for coffee is the alpro fresh one from the fridge section......i dunno what the technical explanation is.

veganstore do a good powdered coffee creamer.

[ms.vegan]

I will try the alpro soya fresh, am gonna bring it in anyway, as an alternative for Freddie to taste, even though I'm actually happy with the one I'm using. Yeah, the p.a and me have seen veganstore online, are they good? do you shop there often? I use redwoodfoods.co.uk myself, we were a bit worried re veganstore, how they keep their frozen produce frozen by the time it reaches you? Perhaps I'm thick...perhaps I was missing something? anyone tell me the answer? Jen. xx

[Enchantress]

I don't think veganstore.co.uk sell any frozen products. I just had a look and I couldn't see anything frozen on there.

[ms.vegan]

Thankyou, thankyou so much! Perhaps I'm confusing it with somebody else...my p.a and I have looked at so many sites etc since I went vegan lol! Hey, bit stuck on this music thread aren't we... a little cheating may be called for, I fear? Jennie. xx

[Enchantress]

Fortunately my favourite song has "Emma" in the title, so that one wasn't too hard .

[ms.vegan]

Aha, I really thought we were stuck there lol! so, vearing off the coffee/chocolate issue, you been a vegan long then? Jen. xx

Fortunately my favourite song has "Emma" in the title, so that one wasn't too hard .

[maidenofthewell]

I dont drink coffee but have heard from a few people that if you dont fully boil the water itll stop the soya milk from curdling, I think if you keep it below 60 degrees? thats just what Ive heard but it might be worth a try?

[Metal Maniac]

I have been a Black Coffee drinker now for over 11 years because everything curdles or the flavour changes drastically.

It gets tiresome trying to set a certain amount of coffee granuals for the perfect flavour with a soy product added so the soy products don't curdle or using a thermometer to get the temp perfect for a single cup of Java!

I have found several Fairtrade coffees taste so much better on there own..or at least i've learned to deal with it over the years!

[green woman]

I think the amount of milk you use might have an effect. I like milky drinks so have not had much trouble with curdling.

[Mr Flibble]

Nescafe is both Nestle and non fair trade

For hot chocolate just put some chocolate in soya milk and heat

[Gorilla]

i find Alpro/Provamel sweetened is best in coffee, if you take it out of the fridge a bit before putting it in the drink it can help prevent curdling. i think the more acidic the coffee, the more likely it is that the soya milk will curdle. it doesn't seem to make any difference to my coffee whether i put the milk in before or after the hot water. it does seem to help if you stir it a lot.

i would agree with Mr Flibble and suggest a Fairtrade brand (and organic if you can - it doesn't cost that much more in most supermarkets). i usually use Clipper, Cafedirect or Co-op's own Fairtrade & organic brand.

[Sarah_]

Mr. Flibble's got it right, methinks. I usually just put squeezy Nestle in vanilla soy milk and heat it up. I don't know what fair trade is...am I doing a bad thing??

Edit: I've just looked it up. Oh dear. I feel like a hypocrite now, for boycotting Wal-Mart and buying Nestle...

[Gorilla]

squeezy Nestle?

do you have fair trade products in the US? i don't know if it's as popular as it is here. it's so easy to buy fair trade here nowadays.

i knew i had a good hot chocolate but i couldn't remember what it was, i looked in my cupboard and it seems Coco Direct is a good one mixed with hot soya milk (and yes it's fair trade).

[Sarah_]

It's the stuff what comes in a squeezy bottle and you pour it over ice cream and such.
I don't know if we have fair-trade over here or if we're just supposed to buy small business... Anyway on that I Can't Believe It's Vegan list it says Ghirardelli's hot chocolate is vegan.

[fiamma]

Yes, if you can help it, don't buy Nestlè!!!

For the coffee curdling issue, I always thought it was a heat/strength of the coffee that counted. You could try putting in your coffee granules, dissolving them in a little hot but not boiling water, adding the soya milk then topping up with more water and milk as required.

For hot chocolate... I don't drink it, but why not just get regular plain cocoa powder and add vanilla, milk/water, sweetener, sugar, whatever?

Hope you find something you like

[treaclemine]

In the Vegan Catering for All booklet (http://www.vegansociety.com/food/Veg...ering_for_All/), The Vegan Society say,

"Curdled coffee? The acidity of coffee may cause soya milk to curdle. This can be avoid by heating the milk and allowing the coffee to cool slightly before adding the milk. Another remedy is to pour a lot of milk in quickly, stirring all the time."

[Johnstuff]

For coffee I go for any fairtrade ground coffee, got Columbian at the mo. it's pretty nice. I use So Good soya that has a slight vanilla flavour - I find it's quite nice in coffee or hot chocolate.

For hot chocolate, I use plain coco powder and add my own sugar. I think if you buy 'drinking chocolate' you often get coco powder mixed with sugar and it costs more than buying the coco and sugar seperatly.

mmm...hot chocolate